One of two current films dealing with the familial fallout of a teenagers school shooting spree (Lynne Ramsays similarly themed We Need to Talk About Kevin debuted to mixed reviews at Cannes), Beautiful Boyhas an intense insularity that is its biggest strength and most major weakness. The story is elemental: Bill and Kate Carroll (Michael Sheen and Maria Bello), an unhappily married couple contemplating divorce, get a cosmic faceful of their failings after their college-freshman son, Sam (Kyle Gallner), kills several classmates and himself. They avoid reporters at the home of Kates brother and sister-in-law (Alan Tudyk and Moon Bloodgood) then at a motel, where they briefly rekindle their affection. Beautiful Boy is best in its early, pensive scenes, and its two leads are effective (particularly Bello), if implausibly detached. For his part, director/co-writer Shawn Ku astutely captures how the burden of guilt and avoidance passes back and forth between the Carrolls during their ordeal. But focusing so closely on this relationship finally underscores its artifice; even a sputtering marriage brims with acute details, and this one reveals only broad, actorly strokes. While Beautiful Boy is potent and even admirable (setting aside the question of why there are no scenes of the victims parents grief), it ultimately mistakes prim, emotional monotony for gravity.
Join My Voice Nation for free stuff, film info & more!
Find everything you're looking for in your city
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
